Valheim and I had some good times during Early Access.
Three years later, returning for 1.0 revealed that those times are probably best left in the past.
What once felt fun and interesting now feels dated. Modern quality-of-life conveniences I’ve grown accustomed to in survival games are absent, with something as simple as crafting at the base using materials already sitting in storage not possible and digging through chests becoming an unnecessary chore.
Then there’s stamina.
Running drains stamina. Fighting drains stamina. Exploring drains stamina. Existing with any sense of urgency seems to drain stamina. Whatever patience I once had for constantly managing that bar is gone, and this time it actively took away from the enjoyment of simply moving around the world. It drains so fast in this game it drained my real life stamina. Yes, even after eating the good food.
Having to replay so much progression we’d already experienced during Early Access didn’t help. Instead of rediscovering an old favorite, the return mostly demonstrated how thoroughly I’d moved on from it.
Valheim is therefore recorded as Dead.
Very dead.
The Vikings can keep my stuff.
Pronouncement: Very, very dead.